Yang Jiaofeng on the Journey to the West series of articles:
In Journey to the West, there is a very interesting-looking immortal, he is the big-forehead birthday star we know well.
The whole Journey to the West seems to be telling the story of learning the scriptures, but in fact, the words reveal a thing that everything in the world is pursuing, that is, immortality.
As the representative of longevity among the immortals, shou xing, is definitely a person who has mastered the art of immortality, even if he does not have to eat peach every year, he can achieve the effect of prolonging life through his own way.
However, why did such a famous and self-proclaimed immortal ancestor become a little brother in front of Sun Wukong, and even more became a slave in the mouth of the Eight Precepts of pigs?
Yang Jiaofeng on the Journey to the West series of articles: Journey to the West: There is a big secret behind the longevity of the birthday star, no wonder he is mixed with Guanyin Bodhisattva!
One
Shou Xing is a Taoist immortal who lives on Penglai Xian Island with the two immortals of Fulu and is also a frequent guest at the Peach Festival.
When Sun Wukong stole peaches, he asked the seven-clothed fairy who came to pick peaches, who in previous years was eligible to participate in the peach party?
The Seven-Clothed Fairy replied:
"The shanghui has its own old rules, please the Western Heavenly Buddha, the Bodhisattva, the Holy Monk, the Arhat, the Southern Antarctic Guanyin, the Eastern Chong'en Saint Emperor, the Ten Continents and Three Islands Immortals..."
It can be seen that the birthday star is still relatively high in the list of the peach feast invited by the Heavenly Court. Later, at the Anten Assembly, the great gods presented gifts to the Buddha, and the entire book only focuses on the appearance of three gods and immortals. One is the Queen Mother's Mother, the other is the barefoot immortal, and then there is the birthday star, and compared to the other two, the birthday star occupies the most space:
"A strange fragrance came to the nose, alarming the stars and the house. The Celestial Buddha stopped the cup and looked up at each other. There is an old man in the middle of Xiaohan, holding a Lingzhi flying embroidery. The gourd hides the Ten Thousand Years Dan, and the treasure basket is named Qianji Shou. ”
Judging from his appearance, he had a strange fragrance of his own, and it alarmed the gods and Buddhas in the hall, and everyone was surprised to forget to drink. The poem also mentions that he had attended the peach party many times, and had been drunk many times, and when he woke up, the moon was hanging in the sky. This old man is also very long-lived, and in the Antarctic side, his life expectancy ranks first.
However, this antian conference, the birthday stars were not invited to participate, but came to visit:
"Fortunately, if you come to this strange place, you will set up a feast to give thanks, so you will hear the wind."
It was precisely because he came uninvited that this explained why the gods were stunned in the face of his presence, and did not even drink the wine.
Two
However, when the birthday star came this time, there was a sentence that leaked his mouth, which also led to the fact that in the eyes of the Taoist immortals, he was an inflammatory person:
"When I first heard that the demon monkey was led by Lao Jun to the Tushi Palace for exercise, he thought that he would bring peace, but he did not expect him to come out again."
The meaning of this sentence is that I thought that the Taishang Laojun was very powerful, and bringing the demon monkey to the Tushi Palace could refine him, but as a result, the monkey was fine, and he was pushed upside down to plant onions!
This belongs to which pot does not open which pot, there is nothing to find a draw type of character, on the one hand, mocking the Taishang Laojun can not subdue the monkey, on the other hand, he lamented that the Buddha's mana is strong, he did not invite himself, but also had to come to see the fang.
This also led to the fact that the later birthday stars were not easy to mix in the heavenly court, and some Taoist immortals did not treat him very well. It was also because of the opportunity laid by that Antian Assembly that since then, the birthday star has begun to follow the Buddhist family upside down.
The most direct evidence is that Shou Xing participated in the planning and early implementation of the Buddhist sutra collection project, such as the reincarnation of the Tang monk, the leader of the sutra collection, that is, the reincarnation of the golden cicada:
"Full of women, listen to my advice." I am the King of the South Pole Star, and I hereby send this Son to you according to the instructions of Guanyin Bodhisattva. ”
As for whether what he said about the guanyin bodhisattva instructions was true or false, it didn't matter anymore. What matters is that he, a Taoist immortal, can participate in such a top-secret Buddhist Dongtu Sutra Collection Project, which in itself can explain the problem.
What's more, this is still the reincarnation of the second disciple of the Buddha, the Golden Cicada, and if there is a slight difference, the entire sutra collection project will suffer a catastrophe.
However, if he blindly pleases Guanyin Bodhisattva, can he really get the thanks and weight of Guanyin Bodhisattva?
Three
In fact, more often than not, it is just the self-inflicted sentimentality of shou xing, because in front of Guanyin Bodhisattva, the weight is still insufficient!
The most obvious example is that after Sun Wukong overthrew the ginseng fruit tree of the Yuan Daxian of Wuzhuangguan Town, the first thing he thought of was the words that the sand monk said when he faced the ginseng fruit:
"In the old days, I was a rolling curtain general, and I helped the servants to go to the peach feast, and tasted the overseas immortals who put this fruit with the queen mother on the birthday."
Overseas immortals, of course, the first in line is fu shou lu three stars, since they may have previously offered ginseng fruit to the queen mother, then they may know the way to heal the fruit tree.
Unfortunately, they did not heal, and when Sun Wukong found Guanyin Bodhisattva, the Bodhisattva was very angry with him, and it was not that Sun Wukong pushed down the fruit tree, but did not come to her first, but first looked for Fu Shou Lu Sanxing:
"Why didn't you come to see me earlier, but go to the island to look for it?"
It can be seen from this that in the eyes of Guanyin Bodhisattva, Shou Xing is not a person with high ability, and Sun Wukong went to him first, but did not find himself, which made the bodhisattva very disappointed.
Of course, there is another reason is that the birthday star this guy, listening to the wind is rain, watching the bustle is not a big deal, and is a goose plucking the main.
In fact, it is also true, Sun Wukong is just looking for their way to ask for help, they did not teach the fart method, but once again uninvited, ran to the Wuzhuang Temple, the reason is still quite grand:
"The Great Sage rest assured, there is no need to worry. Although the Great Immortal was called a superior, he also knew me and so on. One is a long absence, never to be visited; the other is the human affection of the great sage. Now the three of us went to look at him together..."
Did Sun Wukong mention that he wanted to ask them to intercede with Zhen Yuanzi and Tang Monk?
Four
Because Shou Xing and others came uninvited, this made Pig Eight Commandments finally find an opportunity to satirize them, especially Shou Xing:
"You old man with a meat head, I haven't seen you for a long time, but you still take off like this, and you don't bring a hat with you."
In fact, when Pig Eight Commandments was a canopy marshal, it should not be uncommon to see birthday stars, but the feeling that life stars gave him was hypocrisy and miserliness!
Why?
The reason is very simple, we look at the birthday star to the Queen Mother, the Jade Emperor, or even the treasures offered by the Buddha, how many of them are really their own?
First of all, it is certain that the ginseng fruit mentioned in the mouth of the monk was not originally produced from Penglai Xian Island, so where did Fu Shoulu get the ginseng fruit to be presented to the Queen Mother?
There are also treasures dedicated to the Buddha of Rulai by the birthday star:
"There is nothing else to offer, special purple zhiyao grass, and bi lotus golden dan offering."
Lingzhi immortal grass this kind of thing is actually very common, as long as it is a fairy island, basically long this thing, in the flower and fruit mountain this thing is also everywhere:
"Yao grass strange flowers are not thankful, green pine cypress evergreen... There are no trees on all four sides, and there are Zhilan on the left and right. ”
And the lotus root, in fact, is also an overseas island Yingzhou specialty, there are also nine gods living there, Sun Wukong also once asked them for help to treat ginseng fruit trees, people invited Sun Wukong to eat is the green lotus:
"The Ninth Elder left him to drink the jelly and eat the lotus."
In the bhikkhu country, shouxing also gave the king of the bhikkhu country a few dates to eat, in fact, this thing is not a Penglai specialty, it is also a Specialty of Yingzhou, and at that time, Jiulao was in:
"The peach is a wine, and the pear fire jujube shou qianqiu."
Including the Antian Assembly, the barefoot immortals who came to offer to the Buddha of Rulai had fire dates!
Five
And among the treasures just mentioned, there is a jindan that has not been explained, yes, the key to the problem lies in jindan, which is a big article!
Pig Eight Precepts said birthday star, how not even a hat to bring, just give you a Buddha hat to wear! In fact, it is a satire of the two sides and three knives of the birthday star, who was originally a Taoist god, but he wanted to throw himself into the Buddhist family. The birthday star was not convinced, scolding the eight precepts of the pig as rammed goods, and the eight precepts of the pig turned back to a sentence:
"I'm not a rammer, you're a slave!"
This slave is a satire that the birthday star is willing to be a slave to the Buddhist family, throws away the Taoist hat, and wears the Buddha hat!
Then there is the fact that there is no profit and early, and the birthday star comes uninvited, that is, with the intention of picking up the cheap. As long as Sun Wukong finds a cure for fruit trees, Zhen Yuanzi is happy and does not get himself a ginseng fruit to eat?
In fact, they really guessed correctly:
"The great immortal was very happy, and he urgently ordered him to take the golden hammer, knock down ten of the fruits, and ask the bodhisattva and the three elders to return to the treasure hall, one to thank lao, and the other to do a personal fruit meeting."
You know, when Sun Wukong was just surrendered by the Buddha of Rulai, the birthday star did not miss the old feelings at all, one mouth of a demon monkey, one mouth of gratitude to the Buddha.
Now that Sun Wukong has become the leader of the sutra project, his face has changed immediately, not only has he recovered a mouthful of a big sage shouting, but even Sun Wukong, the little monkey, calls this old man a little brother, and he laughs:
"Brothers, it's over."
However, their attitude towards the Eight Precepts of the Pig, who had once been the marshal of the canopy, and The Master Tang Monk of Sun Wukong, changed, and even turned a blind eye to the prayers of the Tang Monk:
Sanzang drank and withdrew the eight precepts, and quickly dressed up and worshiped Sanxing. The three stars saw the great immortal with the courtesy of the juniors, and only then did they sit down. ”
Six
Some people say that it was a joke between the Eight Precepts of the Pig and the birthday star, maybe they had a good relationship before!
If it was really a joke, the Eight Precepts of the Pig would not have been reprimanded by the Tang monks, let alone driven out. After all, inohachi may know that the quality of the birthday star is not very good, and deliberately satirize him.
Well, let's go back and talk about the golden dan that the birthday star was dedicated to the Buddha of Rulai, which is also described in verses:
"The gourd hides the Ten Thousand Years Dan, and the Treasure Basket Is Famous Book Senki Shou."
What is this golden dan used for?
It was used to increase his lifespan, and it was precisely because he gave this golden dan that he was favored by the Buddha of Rulai and became a secret Buddhist close to him.
You know, is the An Tian Assembly really just the day of An Sun Wukong?
Of course not, a little monkey, but kicked over a stove, ran to the front of the Golden Ruan Hall and fought with a security guard, so as not to turn the sky upside down. The so-called An Tian is more about settling the hearts of all the gods and immortals and letting them rest assured.
The reason why their hearts were uneasy was because the peach was mixed up by Sun Wukong, and the heavenly court did not have enough peach to supply to the gods. And the gods are not immortal, every 500 years there are natural disasters, the only way to avoid it is to eat a variety of life-prolonging medicines.
Because of the reduction in the supply of peaches, it led to the death of many immortals, such as the maids of the Phi Xiang Palace, such as Su'e of the Moon Palace, after all, the limited peaches could not be eaten by these low-level immortals.
In fact, the Buddha of the Western Heavens was also in trouble, because the supply of peaches was insufficient, so they had to eat the tenth reincarnation of the golden cicada to save the entire Spirit Mountain.
Seven
In fact, at the Antian Assembly, the gods all knew what the Buddha lacked, which also led to the treasures they offered, most of which were related to life extension!
For example, the barefoot immortals offered:
"Deeply feel the mana, subdue the demon monkey." Nothing can be respected, and two pears and several dates are dedicated. ”
Regarding the fire date, there is also a poem describing:
"Daisen barefoot jujube pear incense, pay tribute to Midas longevity is long."
Including later, after the king of the bhikkhu kingdom ate the three fire dates given by the birthday star, although he could not achieve the effect of immortality, he could also achieve the purpose of longevity:
"The king swallowed it, and gradually felt that he was slightly ill and retired. Those who have attained eternal life in the future all originate from this. ”
Combined with the treasures we mentioned earlier, the birthday star once offered, including ginseng fruit, bi lotus, purple zhi, Yao grass and so on. This also shows that he has actually been collecting these precious foods, what is he using for?
It is used to refine the elixir of immortality!
Still in the bhikkhu country, the pig eight precepts saw the birthday star gave the king of the bhikkhu country three fire dates, he quarreled to eat it, but the birthday star said that he had brought so many, if you really want to eat, back to send you a few pounds:
"Never brought it. I'll give you a few pounds another day. ”
This is strange, the fire dates are so golden, when the barefoot immortals were given as treasures to the Buddha, how could there be so many in the family of the birthday star?
In the final analysis, it is because Shou Xing first refined the elixir of immortality, that is, the use of various Ganoderma lucidum immortal herbs, including fire dates. But the effect is certainly not very ideal, or the yield is too low, and it will not take hundreds of years to refine one, and it was given to the Buddha.
But later, after The Birthday Star gathered with Guanyin Bodhisattva at the Wuzhuang Temple, the efficiency problem that he had been difficult to overcome was suddenly solved.
Eight
So, what did Shou Xing say to Guanyin Bodhisattva in the Wuzhuang Temple?
That's right, it's the secret of refining the elixir of immortality!
Before this, Guanyin Bodhisattva had received a black bear essence, and the reason why he wanted to accept him as his own mountain guardian god was because this black bear essence would also have a little alchemy, and Elder Jinchi had dipped his light and lived for more than two hundred years.
The reason why the black bear essence has a good relationship with a snake essence is also because they are discussing, which is also the refining of Jindan:
"Xiao Dao offers a elixir and dares to call it a thousand lives."
The reason why Elder Jinchi was able to live a long life was because the method he adopted was to continue his life, to put it bluntly, that is, to take the lives of others to make up for his own life.
Let's look at the appearance of Elder Jinchi:
"I saw two little children in the back, carrying an old monk out..."
Elder Jinchi also slept with the children:
"There was a little lucky boy who took out a plate of mutton fat jade..."
"Little Lucky Boy didn't know why, but he went to report to the monks..."
Including the ginseng fruit tree of Wuzhuangguan, as I said before, it is actually a huge creature extractor, absorbing the creatures near Wuzhuangguan to achieve the growth of ginseng fruit.
Including monsters, why eat people and eat meat?
Although it cannot increase the absorption efficiency like Shou Xing, Zhen Yuanzi, and Black Bear Essence, it can also achieve the purpose of increasing longevity, which is also the reason why the yokai live a relatively old age.
Because the birthday star penetrated the mystery inside, the carp essence of Guanyin Bodhisattva ran down to the mortal world to find a child on a specific date to eat:
"He took us, the big spoon and the big bowl and the small things, and he knew it, and he remembered everything when he was old and young. As long as they have their own children, they will be used by others. ”
Why does carp actuate specifically on a child's date of birth?
It is because he is doing experiments, and only by knowing the specific days can he calculate the specific life extension time of the experimental data in order to make the next experimental adjustment.
Because this set of data allowed the birthday star to do the analysis, he instructed his mount to go down to the bhikkhu country to find the hearts and livers of a thousand and one children to expand production.
If you think about it, fish and deer, what a gentle animal they are, even they have run out to eat people, you can imagine how seriously they have been influenced by their masters.
As a god, nature cannot blatantly eat people, but can only pass through human agents. The reason why the birthday star gave the king of the bhikkhu country three dates to eat was also a consideration in this regard, leaving the green mountains without worrying about firewood. Moreover, at this time, the king of the bhikkhu kingdom already trusted himself quite a bit, and there was still time to think about it in the long run.
As for the birthday star sending a Golden Dan of the Buddha, what exactly is done, I think this is the biggest darkness in the whole Journey to the West!
My name is Yang Jiaofeng, look at the journey to the west from a different perspective, you will find different fun, like please pay attention to it!